


Night's Fading

by Settiai



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Dragon Age II - Act 3, Holly Poly, M/M, Multi, One Shot, Post-Dragon Age II, Pre-Dragon Age: Inquisition, Pre-Dragon Age: Origins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28725621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/pseuds/Settiai
Summary: Night never had the last word. The dawn is always invincible.
Relationships: Cullen Rutherford/Male Amell/Male Hawke, Male Amell/Cullen Rutherford, Male Hawke/Cullen Rutherford
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12
Collections: Holly Poly 2020





	Night's Fading

**Author's Note:**

  * For [YunaBlaze](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YunaBlaze/gifts).



"It's getting late," Cullen said, glancing up at the stars visible outside the window. "The shift change will be happening soon. You should get back to your dormitory before someone notices you're gone."

Amell shot him a quicksilver grin. "Before _we_ get caught, you mean."

Cullen rolled his eyes but didn't argue. It wasn't as if Amell was wrong. If Amell got caught out and about in the middle of the night, there would be questions asked of Cullen as the templar on duty for that floor, and it was no secret that lying wasn't one of his gifts.

"Go," Cullen said, pressing a quick kiss to Amell's forehead. "It will be dawn soon."

Amell pulled away after a moment, and Cullen wasn't quite sure how to interpret the expression on his face. "Do you ever wonder what it would be like if we didn't have to sneak around like this?" he asked almost wistfully, a distant look in his eyes. "If we could have more than just stolen moments when nobody else is looking?"

Cullen's throat suddenly felt a little tight, and he pointedly cleared it. "There's no point in thinking about something that's impossible," he said, his voice sounding harsh in the quiet of the room. "Get to bed, Amell."

For a moment or two, Cullen thought he was going to say something else. Then Amell's gaze drifted towards the window, where the last of the stars were still just barely visible in the slowly lightening sky, and his jaw clenched.

"I suppose that I should," Amell said quietly.

Cullen felt a pang in his chest as he watched him walk away, slipping out the door and disappearing into the darkness of the deserted corridor outside. "Damn it," he muttered, reaching up to run his fingers through the unruly curls of his hair. "I need to stop doing this."

Maybe if he kept telling himself that, eventually he would.

*

"Champion," Cullen said, giving Hawke a respectful nod as the man stepped up beside him on the docks.

All of his instincts were screaming at him to move away, that it was dangerous to be so close to a mage who was all but untouchable, but the Knight Commander had given strict orders and he wouldn't be the one to break them. Besides, as much as Cullen hated to admit it, there was a part of him that couldn't help but wonder if at least some of his discomfort was from Hawke's resemblance to his cousin rather than the fact that he was a mage.

He wasn't Amell. Cullen knew that. Still, whenever he happened to catch a glimpse of the man out of the corner of his eye, it always took his mind a moment to realize it. But that wasn't Hawke's fault, and it wasn't fair of him to judge the man because of it.

Even if he was a mage.

"How are you feeling, Knight Captain?" Hawke asked, a hint of what sounded like actual concern mixed in with the man's usual humor. "You hit the ground pretty hard earlier."

Cullen grimaced at the reminder of the impromptu bar fight he'd somehow managed to get dragged into. He'd simply been trying to drag a few of his wayward knights who were late returning from leave back to the Gallows, and he hadn't expected to walk into one of the taverns on the docks where missing templars could often be found only to find himself in the middle of pure chaos.

Judging by the slightly guilty look on the Champion's face, Cullen suspected that he had at least a small idea how the fight might have started in the first place.

"I've had worse," Cullen said matter-of-factly, letting his gaze drift back to the night sky. It would be dawn soon, and he needed to return to the Gallows himself now that he'd found the last of the stragglers.

He tried not to think about just why he was so reluctant to do so.

"The tavern's still open," Hawke said casually from beside him. "Maybe I could buy you a drink to make up for, well—"

"Starting a bar fight with my templars?" Cullen cut in wryly.

Hawke at least had the decency to look somewhat sheepish. "In my defense," he said, "I started a bar fight with some mercenaries who were making comments about Fereldens. Your templars just got dragged into it."

Cullen snorted.

Hawke grinned, and Cullen couldn't help but appreciate the view for a moment. Despite everything, there was no denying that Hawke was a handsome man. In another world...

... well, there was no use in thinking about things that could never be. He'd said that himself many times over the years.

"I should get back," Cullen said, shaking his head. "It took longer than I was expecting to round up everyone who missed their curfew."

Hawke stared at him for a moment before reaching into the pouch he wore at his waist and pulling out a flask. "Fine," he said, "but we can at least toast to a new day, right?"

Cullen stared at Hawke for a long moment. The other man just stared right back, his eyebrows quirking a bit in the exact same way that Amell's used to do all those years earlier.

He really was a handsome man. And the worst part was that Hawke very clearly knew it.

Cullen sighed. "I suppose one drink won't hurt."

Hawke's face lit up as brightly as the stars in the sky.

*

"Knight Commander?"

Cullen grimaced, looking up from the letter he was pinning in the dim torchlight of his office. "For the last time, Danys, it's still Knight Captain. There haven't been any official missives from Val Royeaux yet."

The young woman's face flushed, and she hurriedly nodded. She was young, barely out of training, and if everything hadn't turned topsy turvy so suddenly she probably would still be learning. As it was, though, he didn't have enough templars left loyal to him to turn anyone down.

"Did you need something?" he asked, taking pity on the girl.

She straightened up, standing to attention. "Yes sir," she said. "I came to let you know that a Grey Warden is here to see you, sir."

Cullen went still.

"A Grey Warden?" he repeated. "It's the middle of the night. Is this about Anders?"

Danys started to shrug but stopped midway through the motion, as if she'd just realized what she was doing. "I'm not sure, sir," she said. "He didn't say."

Cullen sighed, and he could practically feel a headache starting to build. "See him in, please, Danys."

She hurriedly nodded. "Yes sir," she said. "One moment, sir."

Danys turned and was out the door in a second, clearly relieved to be out of his presence. Cullen reached up to rub his temples.

"Well, you look about twenty years older than you did the last time I saw you," a familiar voice said from the doorway.

Cullen jerked his head towards the door.

Amell was standing there in full Warden regalia, a familiar smirk on his face that looked almost identical to the one Cullen was used to seeing on Hawke in recent years.

He was older than the Amell in Cullen's memories, a good inch or two taller than he'd been the last time Cullen saw him back at Kinloch, and there was a scar going across his face that hadn't been there before. The long hair that he'd always kept pulled back in a tail in the Tower had been cut short, and if Cullen hadn't heard him speak he might not have recognized him.

"Warden Commander Amell," he said, pushing himself to his feet. "How can I help you?"

The corners of Amell's mouth twitched. "You don't have to be so formal, Cullen," he said. "After all, we go back quite a ways, don't we? And it's been ages. I mean, I haven't seen you since I left the Tower to become a Warden. Not really, at least."

Amell's voice was casual, but his eyes didn't leave Cullen's face. Cullen, for his part, immediately understood what the other man was saying. It was an offer. Amell was willing to forget about what Cullen had said the last time they'd seen each other, half-mad from the demons and lyrium withdrawal both.

There were many things Cullen would never be able to forgive himself for. He couldn't help but cling to even the tiniest offer of redemption.

"It's good to see you again," Cullen said slowly. Carefully. He knew he was treading on unsteady ground.

Amell's mouth twitched again, the corners turning upwards into a proper smile. "I was passing through the area," he said. "Picking up a wayward Warden of mine. I thought that I might offer my services here in Kirkwall for at least a few days, considering..."

He trailed off, but Cullen could read between the lines well enough. Part of him wanted to ask just what the Wardens were going to do with Anders, and whether or not Hawke was still with him after fleeing the city at his side. But another part of him, a larger part, wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

He couldn't help but think it might be easier if he didn't know.

Cullen's mouth suddenly felt a little dry. "I would certainly appreciate any help you could give," he said. "It's been a trying time."

Amell nodded, something flickering in his eyes so quickly that Cullen didn't have time to make it out before it was gone. "Maybe I can steal a few moments of your time."

For a long moment, Cullen didn't say anything. His gaze drifted towards the small window in the wall, the night sky visible through it. Both moons were high in the sky, shining so brightly that they almost hid the stars, but it wouldn't last. It was late, or perhaps it was better to say that it was early. The dawn would be coming soon enough.

"A lot of things have changed," Cullen said quietly. "Maybe we can find time for more than a few stolen moments."

The smile on Amell's face didn't fade, but it did shift into something gentler. Softer. "Maybe we can. At least for a few days."

*

Cullen sighed as he good-naturedly let Hawke drag him along the walls of Skyhold. "If whatever this big surprise you have for me involves Wicked Grace, Champion," he said, "I would like to reminder you that I'm armed."

Hawke glanced over at him and winked. "You fucked me over your desk two days ago," he said. "I think you can call me Garrett at this point."

Cullen couldn't have stopped his embarrassed flush even if he'd tried.

"Come on," Hawke said, still pulling him forward. "I think you'll like this surprise. Trust me."

Shaking his head, Cullen stopped even his mild protests and simply let Hawke drag him wherever the man wanted him to go. If he knew anything from what he'd learned about Hawke back in Kirkwall as well as over the past few months that he'd been with the Inquisition, there was no point in arguing with him. He was going to get his way in the end, so it was easier on everyone if you simply gave in and let it happen.

After what felt like ages, Hawke finally stopped in front of a door that Cullen knew without a doubt led to a tower that hadn't been repaired yet. Cullen glanced at him, his eyebrows going up. "I see a door."

Hawke let out a dramatic sigh. "Such little faith you have in me," he said, his hand reaching down to rest very pointedly on Cullen's ass. "I'm heartbroken."

"I'm sure that you are," Cullen said dryly. "What exactly is this about, Hawke?"

Hawke waggled his finger at him. "Hey, hey, hey. What did I just say a few minutes ago?"

Cullen rolled his eyes. "What exactly is this about, _Garrett_?" he asked pointedly.

"I'm impressed, cousin," a familiar voice said, coming from the doorway they'd stopped in front of. "I've known him for even longer than you, and I've never been able to convince him to call me Daylen even once."

Cullen jerked his attention away from Hawke and towards the door, which was now open. Amell was standing there, shadows under his eyes but a hint of a smirk on his face even then.

"Surprise!" Hawke said cheerfully.

Above them, the stars were slowly starting to fade in the pre-dawn light as Cullen followed them through the doorway.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Twitter. (https://twitter.com/settiai)


End file.
